


Silver Lining

by orphan_account



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: F/F, Sad beginning but then a happy ending(ish), So..?, angstish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-31
Updated: 2015-06-24
Packaged: 2018-04-02 02:40:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4042588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Angie's parents find out she's attracted to women and mistakenly believe she's having an affair with Peggy. They disown her and Angie has to explain why they won't be going to Martinelli Sunday dinners anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Angie needed her mother to stop crying. The woman who raised her was supposed to be strong and brave, not clutching her chest with tears streaming down her cheeks. Angie’s father sat beside her, holding his wife’s hand, but his eyes were set on Angie. His glare was mixed with hatred and disgust – never before had Angie felt like such a disappointment. Not when she stopped going to Sunday Mass every week or even when she broke off her engagement.

“You can change,” her mother sobbed. “Angela, please, come to confession with us. God will take this away from you if you ask for forgiveness.”

Both of her parents were staring at her, waiting for a response, but Angie had nothing to offer them. They were the ones who had protected and provided for her, even when they didn’t approve of her choices. Her mother was the one to teach her how to cook, who brushed her hair when she was little, and sang lullabies when she couldn’t sleep; her father the one who taught her the names of the stars and bandaged her skinned knees when she played too hard with the neighbor’s children. The last thing she wanted was to hurt them, but as the tears blurred her vision, she found herself unable to lie.

“I can’t,” she whispered.

“Of course you can!” Her mother protested, but Angie shook her head.

“No, Ma, I can’t.”

“Then you will not call her that,” her father said darkly. Angie had never been afraid of her father, he was always a kind, quiet man, but in that moment she was terrified. “If you won’t repent your sins, then you are no child of mine. Get out of my house and go back to your whore.”

“She’s not my–”

“GET OUT!” he roared. His fists were shaking with anger, but he was no longer looking her in the eyes. Angie briefly wondered if he was going to hit her, but he had never been one for violence, even in his darkest moments. She wanted to explain everything, to make them accept her, but Angie knew her presence would only make things worse.

Leaving the house she grew up in was one of the hardest things Angela Martinelli had ever done. It was just supposed to be a dinner with her parents, but one thing led to another and they ended up discussing her personal life. Her mother had confronted her about the lack of men in her life and somehow Angie had ended up blurting out her attraction to women. Very quickly, both parents assumed Peggy had been the one to taint their little girl, since clearly there were involved in some horrible affair.

Only they weren’t. Every part of Angie wanted to call Peggy her own, but she was positive Peggy didn’t feel the same way. How could anyone so spectacular and beautiful fall for someone as plain as Angie, she told herself.

Angie promised herself that by the time Peggy got home, she would pull on a happy face to keep her from realizing anything was wrong. It was difficult to do, between the hours of crying. She had even vomited from the stress once the reality of the situation kicked in, that she would never see her family again. Her parents would tell the rest, although if she was lucky the news wouldn’t spread any farther than her brothers. It would bring them too much shame for people to know that their only daughter was a lesbian.

She was curled up on the couch, finally dry-eyed, when Peggy walked in through the door. “You wouldn’t believe the day I’ve had,” Peggy called from the entry way. “Shouldn’t it be common sense to…”

Peggy trailed off when she saw the state Angie was in. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m just a little sick,” Angie said with a strained smile. “It’s not a big deal.”

She jumped a little when Peggy sat down next to her and brushed a stray strand of hair out of Angie’s eyes. “You were crying over being sick?”

Angie realized her eyes were still red and her make up was likely smeared, but she was determined not to let Peggy know what had happened. “Yeah. Silly, right?”

“No, of course not,” Peggy reassured her. She squeezed Angie’s arm lightly. “Should I call your parents and tell them we aren’t coming to dinner tomorrow night?”

“No!” Angie yelled, far too quickly and loudly for it to be a reasonable reaction. “I mean, um.. I already called. They aren’t expectin’ us.”

“What’s wrong, darling?” Peggy whispered. Her voice was so sweet and caring that Angie couldn’t help but start crying again.

“N-nothing,” she stuttered, completely unbelievably. “I’m f-fine. Really.”

Peggy pulled Angie close, hugging her tightly to keep her from shaking too fiercely. It took Angie an embarrassingly long time to pull herself back together, especially with the way Peggy was stroking her hair. She was trying to be helpful, Angie knew, but the contact only made it that much harder.

“What happened?” Peggy tried again once the sobs had ceased.

She couldn’t tell her. Angie had already lost her family, she couldn’t lose Peggy, too. “I’m just feelin’ a little emotional.”

Peggy looked so rejected by her refusal to discuss what was going on. “I know I’m not the easiest person to talk to,” she mumbled, “But I hope you know you can always come to me.”

Angie wanted to believe her with all her heart, but she couldn’t. There was no one she could talk to, no one who would understand, and even if Peggy didn’t outright reject her, things wouldn’t be the same. “I… I’m sorry.”

“You have no reason to apologize,” Peggy told her firmly.

“My parents…” Angie hesitated, wondering how much she could get away with saying. “They disowned me. They don’t want to see me anymore.”

Peggy’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Why?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me,” Peggy growled. “They have no right to put you through this.”

She stood up abruptly and headed out of the room with a determined stride. “Where are you going?” Angie asked, voice jumping an octave out of fear.

“I am calling them.”

“Don’t!” Angie screamed so loudly that Peggy spun around on her heels to face her. “Please don’t!”

“They cannot just–”

“I’m attracted to women,” Angie blurted out, shaking with fear of how Peggy would react. But she couldn’t let Peggy be on the phone with her parents, not when they thought they were together. “I don’t like guys. I’m… I’m a…”

“You’re a lesbian?” Peggy asked in such a way that Angie couldn’t tell what she was thinking. “That’s why they won’t speak to you?”

“Yeah,” Angie shuffled. “I’m sorry.”

Peggy returned to her side and pulled her into a hug. “Darling, you have no reason to apologize. I am still beyond furious with your parents, but know I will always be here for you. Always.”

Throwing caution to the wind, Angie buried her face into Peggy’s neck. “You’re really okay with it?”

“Of course.” Peggy kissed her forehead tenderly.

Angie had never felt so physically exhausted, no matter how thrilled she was to know that Peggy wasn’t going to abandon her. She rested her head against Peggy’s shoulder. “Please promise you won’t call them.”

“Someone needs to,” Peggy said in a stern voice. “They need to understand.”

Realizing she’d already admitted to everything else, Angie bit the bullet and admitted the final piece of information. “They think we’re sleeping together.”

Peggy tensed and Angie immediately regretted having said anything. “They do?”

“Yeah,” Angie mumbled. “They think you’re the reason I’m…” she still couldn’t bring herself to say the word out loud.

“Oh,” Peggy whispered. She was quiet for a while and every moment that passed in silence, Angie found it harder and harder to breath. “We… You don’t think of me that way, do you?”

Angie couldn’t speak. She wanted to deny it, to laugh it off and reassure Peggy that she just thought of her as a friend, but her vocal chords had officially stopped working.

“Because I think I might fancy you,” Peggy admitted quietly.

Angie found the courage to look up at Peggy and found an incredibly vulnerable, beautiful expression. It wasn’t real, it couldn’t be real. She had spent too long hiding her crush on Peggy for it to be so simple. And yet, Peggy was holding her hand and staring at her with bright eyes and biting her bottom lip nervously.

“I really like you,” Angie said.

“Good,” Peggy smiled, lacing her fingers with Angie’s. It was still a terrible, terrible day, but Angie didn’t think there was any silver lining better than Peggy’s bashful smile.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone requested an angsty(ish) sequel, so ta da!

Angie woke up to the feeling of wet fabric beneath her cheek. She didn’t even realize she was still crying until Peggy rushed into her room, eyes searching for whatever had caused her distress. Angie reached out a hand, signaling for Peggy to come closer. Peggy sat down on the edge of the bed and stroked Angie’s hair, but Angie swatted her hand away and shook her head.

“Can you crawl in with me?” she whispered sadly, wiping away a tear. “Please?”

“I don’t—”

“I’m not askin’ you to sleep _with_ me,” Angie said, putting emphasis on the word. They had been seeing each other for only just over a week, and both had agreed to take things slowly. Peggy, with her damned propriety, had hardly even kissed her, let alone share a bed. “Please, Peggy? I just don’t want to be alone right now.”

Peggy hesitated for only a brief moment before smiling lightly and crawling into the bed. She wrapped one arm protectively around Angie’s waist and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head. “What’s wrong, darling? Are you alright?”

Angie buried her head in Peggy’s shoulder. “I had a bad dream.”

“Do you want to tell me about it?” Peggy asked. One hand was idly playing with Angie’s hair, and she found herself awed again by the softness of it.

“It was a-about my parents,” Angie confessed, hiccuping in the middle of the sentence. “They don’t love me anymore, Peggy. I can’t help but feel like I failed them.”

Peggy tightened her embrace around Angie and fought to keep the bile from rising in her throat. Angie had forbid her from confronting her parents, despite her many protests. It was outrageous that they had thrown her so casually out of their lives, but Angie had repeatedly told her that confrontation would accomplish them nothing. Eventually, Peggy gave up, but Angie shaking in her arms reminded her of the choice words she’d been holding back for the Martinellis. 

“You didn’t chose to leave them,” Peggy reminded her, tone fierce. “You have done absolutely nothing wrong, Angie. Nothing.”

“I know, I know. But it’s not their fault,” Angie whispered.

“They chose to throw you out.”

Angie shook her head against Peggy’s shoulder. “They don’t know any better.”

Peggy kissed her forehead again and rested her lips against Angie’s forehead. Her mother and siblings were thousands of miles away, separated by an entire ocean from her. There was no comparing her situation to Angie’s, and even if her mother was closer, it still wouldn’t be the same. The Carter family was hardly as close as the Martinellis.

“What happened in your dream?” Peggy asked.

“I can’t really remember all of it, but my parents and brothers were there. They were so angry at me, I could tell,” Angie sniffed. “But they weren’t talkin’ to me. The whole time I kept tryin’ to get their attention and they kept lookin’ back at me with these hateful eyes. It was so horrible.”

“Oh, Angie,” Peggy breathed, tilting her chin up so she would look her in the eyes. Tears were forming in the corners of Angie’s eyes as she looked up with wide, vulnerable eyes. “I’m so sorry, darling.”

It felt entirely insubstantial as she pulled Angie to her chest and mumbled soft reassurances into her hair. That night, she stayed in Angie’s bed, holding her close and trying to keep the nightmares at bay. 

**Author's Note:**

> I never ever remember to put things up anymore and it's terrible, terrible, terrible, because I tend to write a lot of ficletts on Tumblr and they just never make their way onto AO3. But I got this one up! Yay for me. Hope you enjoyed!


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